Fleischer-Steiner Family Collection

The Fleischer family ran a paper factory in Eislingen, Germany, and lived in Goeppingen. In 1892 Moritz Fleischer, had bought the bankrupt factory. In 1906, upon Moritz's death, Kuno Fleischer (born on December 25th, 1880) became an authorized representative and associate and ran the company together with his brother David Moritz Fleischer. David Moritz's sons Hermann (in 1924) and Walter (in 1930) became associates.

In 1939, David Moritz Fleischer, his sons and their families emigrated to England and took over Swan Mill Paper Ltd., London, a subsidiary company to the Eislingen factory, founded by Kuno Fleischer in 1930. Since David Moritz Fleischer, his sons and their families left Germany 'illegally', Kuno Fleischer was imprisoned. In 1938, he was interned in the Dachau concentration camp. In February 1939, he was a prisoner in the Polizeigefaengnis (police prison) Stuttgart; Kuno Fleischer was released on June 8th that same year and emigrated to England two weeks later. In 1940, SS-Obersturmbannfuehrer Fritz Kiehn, a prominent Nazi in Baden-Wuerttemberg, took over the company, after inner-NSDAP quarrels with Gustav Schickedanz, another prominent NS-functionary and businessman, were resolved.

Kuno Fleischer was released from prison for a ransom and as neither his brother nor his nephews paid the amount, Kuno sold his shares in the Swan Mill Paper Ltd. to Victor Steiner and other members of the Steiner family. The Steiners were the family of his wife Clara, born on July 19th, 1893. Clara’s father, Victor Steiner, had lived in the USA for quite a while. The Steiner family as well as Kuno's and Clara's children Kurt and Hilde Fleischer, who had immigrated to the USA earlier, supported them in their attempts to gain a US visa, which they had tried to acquire since Kuno’s internment in Dachau. Kuno and Clara eventually immigrated to the USA in February 1940.

Not only did Kuno blame his brother and his nephews for his imprisonment, but their personal relationship was already fairly strained since the late 1920s because the inclusion of David Moritz's sons entailed contractual problems. The original deed of partnership from 1906 had granted Kuno and David Moritz an equal share in the company. With Hermann as an associate, Kuno's share was reduced to 40 percent. When Walter joined the company, an ongoing discussion about a further reduction of Kuno's share emerged, which, however, was never resolved, as Kuno simply refused to change the contract. This difficult situation resurfaced in 1948, when the Fleischers regained their company. Walter's and Hermann's deaths on March 3rd, 1949, and August 6th, 1949, respectively, as well as Kuno's death on April 23rd, 1951, in connection with an unclear estate and changing restitution laws in Germany created a very opaque situation.